Chapter 35 #2
Cooper popped his head back through. “Ahhhh, thanks,” he said to Xavi, and I bit back a laugh. “I’ll sort lunch for you guys,” he added, then finally disappeared for good, and that did it. Xavier and I completely lost it, doubling over in a fit of giggles.
“Oh my God,” I said between huffs. “You just hit on my boss/roommate/fiancé.”
“Ahhhh, thanks,” Xavi mocked Cooper’s embarrassed gratitude and we both fell into another bout of laughter. And it hit me then, I didn’t just miss seeing him every single day. I missed this - the laughter, the chaos and the way he made everything funnier just being in the room.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I confessed, handing him a ledger before we made eye contact and again lost it, dissolving into hysterics.
The office looked more like the day I first started when we decided we were maxed out. Take out containers discarded on chairs, empty cups in various places and piles of paper scattered everywhere.
We’d counted each of the 613 barrels, twice.
We’d itemised every label and reviewed each with both the handwritten and electronic registers.
And we’d come to the same conclusion. Someone was stealing from Golden Spades Distillery and everything pointed to it being an inside job.
An employee. Whether they were pilfering barrels, oversupplying a stockist or mis-recording, there was embezzlement, and according to our calculations, it had been going on for at least two years.
Just thinking about telling Cooper was gut-wrenching.
How did you break something like that to someone who barely trusts anyone to begin with?
And now, of the few people he let in, one of them had let him down.
I was fairly confident I knew who, but I was going to make sure I was 100% before I went around pointing fingers.
“I must admit, I agreed to this deal far too quickly,” I whispered, nerves crackling across my skin and not just because of the warmth of Cooper’s hand on the small of my back.
“If we don’t order entrees, we can probably escape in less than two hours.”
“Two hours?” I hissed, through lips even a ventriloquist would envy. “That’s a life sentence under these conditions.”
“Coop,” Preston stood from the table, making a show of shaking his son’s hand and pulling him in for a quick hug which, judging by Cooper’s stiff posture, wasn’t a common occurrence.
“Happy birthday,” he said, extricating himself from the greeting, before returning to my side, his hand again moving to my lower back.
“Happy birthday, Preston,” I said with as much warmth as I could muster towards a prick like him.
“Evelyn, thank you for coming,” he replied in a voice which sounded practised, and I felt Cooper flinch.
“It’s Evangeline,” I corrected, not bothering to mask my indifference. Nothing he could do or say would rattle me tonight. But I wasn’t so sure about the rigid wall beside me when we’d been here for thirty seconds, and I could practically feel his anger bubbling through his clothing.
Portia came next and I shot Cooper a reassuring look, silently telling him to chill.
She greeted us with more warmth than her husband, but it still reeked of honey slicked over rusted iron. They hated the ring on my finger and hated even more that I held their son’s attention.
“I saved you a seat up here,” she said, her words aimed only at Cooper, and I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. For someone who didn’t like violence, I very much wanted to claw her face off.
“You remember Maxine and Jim?” she continued, gesturing toward the couple who smiled with practised ease. “And their daughter, Samantha?”
I felt Coop’s steps falter and that was all I needed to confirm what this was.
The only spare seats were next to the striking woman with long blonde hair and dark eyes.
This wasn’t hospitality. It was a set up. And Portia and Preston had made it perfectly clear - I was the third wheel.
In their eyes, I wasn’t just unwelcome, I was an extra.
An accidental smudge on the family portrait they’d already framed in their heads.
Portia’s smile was all silk, but I felt it, like static crawling across my skin.
They didn’t want me here. Not with their son.
Not at this table. Not in this life. And the worst part? They didn’t even bother to hide it.
Well, fuck them and their prejudice.
Cooper’s smile was tight as he greeted the couple sitting close by, followed by Samantha, who to her credit, looked as uncomfortable as I felt.
But I saw the flicker, like something in him was trying to crawl out and I wanted to grab his hand and hold it down.
Instead, I exhaled their poison, rolled my shoulders back, and in a move soaked in fake confidence, dragged the chair beside Samantha and claimed it.
Then I smiled and introduced myself like I belonged.
I knew the second she held out her hand in greeting that I liked her.
There was nothing untoward or deceptive in her face, and the tight lines around her mouth as her parents bragged to both Cooper and I about how she’d just been made partner in her law firm, told me she was embarrassed.
She hated this world as much as the man who sat beside me.
Leaning over, I took his hand in mine and brought it to rest on my thigh.
Through a furtive glance, I reminded him - we are in this together.
The slight flicker of his brows confirmed what I suspected - I’m simmering.
My thumb brushed the back of his hand - We’ll get through this.
He lifted our linked hands, the green emerald on my finger angled just so, catching the light - I appreciate you.
“Cooper, Evangeline, congratulations on your engagement,” Maxine said.
“When is the big day?” I was relieved to see Portia and Preston were busy with another couple just arriving and took the opportunity to relax a little while answering questions about a wedding which wasn’t going to happen.
No matter how much I wished some of the lies could be true.
“And Coop, where did you have the ring designed? It’s stunning?” Samantha was genuinely interested, and I turned with equal parts curiosity, flashing him my first authentic smile of the night.
He blinked slowly, an unreadable look sweeping his features. “Oh, a friend of a friend,” he said. “But there was never any doubt in my mind that it would look as beautiful as the woman wearing it.” His voice was confident, a sincerity which even had me swooning.
“What made you choose emerald?”
He shrugged. “Green’s her favourite colour.”
“God, I hope someone looks at me like that one day,” Samantha mumbled next to me, and I shot her a quick grin.
A grin which was layered with distraction, my mind still a few seconds in the past as I unpacked his words.
He didn’t deny he’d had it designed. He also remembered green was my favourite colour, which meant, there was a chance he’d specifically had it made…
for me. I was torn. The idea that he might have crafted my perfect piece of jewellery himself - or that it already belonged to someone else - felt almost deadly, especially with the charity gala only weeks away.
The final act before this performance came to an end.
A thousand questions hung between now and then - unasked, unanswered, and heavy with the silence of not knowing how to begin.
As we fell into small talk, I put every ounce of energy into conversing, trying not to spiral about what the ring meant.
Now definitely wasn’t the time, so I forced my focus onto those around me, discovering while Samantha was incredibly intelligent and kind, we - like Cooper said - had almost nothing in common.
Thus, I allowed her parents, who loved nothing more than oversharing every second of their lives, to take the lead.
While I enjoyed the proximity of my fiancé and the security in his thigh pressed against mine.
His hand draped across my own or the feel of his gaze sweeping my side profile when he thought I didn’t realise, were added extras of the evening.
Holding his attention was a comfort I never knew I needed, and one I was going to find difficult to part with in a short amount of time.
One I didn’t actually want to part with and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I needed to.
There was no denying this wasn’t all fake anymore.
We were sharing a bed often, but that conversation hadn’t actually happened, and I was too scared to be the one to bring it up for fear of another rejection. One I might not recover from this time.
Cooper had been distant on the drive home from dinner, probably wrapped up in replaying the multiple underhanded comments thrown his way throughout the meal.
Always sharp little remarks from his father, spoken carelessly in front of a full table.
I couldn’t understand how anyone thought speaking to their child like that was acceptable and as soon as I’d showered, I went in search of him to see if he was okay.
His office light was on, and I tapped the door lightly.
“Mind if I come in?” I wanted to wrap myself around him. To take his mind off the garbage that was that dinner, and I knew exactly how to do it - if I could muster the courage.
His head lifted from where it had been buried in his hands and the look of desolation flared into something darker, hungrier, as his gaze dropped to the pink satin nightie skimming my skin.
Maybe I wouldn’t need courage after all.
“Come here,” he ordered, voice low, rolling back on his chair to allow space for me in front of him. That look alone sent a jolt through me, my body instantly alert, my nipples pebbling as I felt his words run the full length of my spine.
I listened, stopping in front of him and he immediately reached for me, gripping my hips and pressing a soft kiss to my stomach.